title: The outcome of tactile touch on stress parameters in intensive care: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: The study aimed to investigate the effects of a five-day tactile touch intervention in order to find new and unconventional measures to moderate the detrimental influence of patients' stressors during intensive care. The hypothesis was that tactile touch would decrease stress indicators such as anxiety, glucose metabolism, blood pressure, heart rate and requirements of sedative drugs and noradrenalin. A randomized controlled trial was undertaken with 44 patients, which were assigned either to tactile touch or standard treatment (a rest hour). Observations of the stress indicators were made before, during and after the intervention or standard treatment. The study showed that tactile touch led to significantly lower levels of anxiety. The circulatory parameters suggested increased circulatory stability indicated by a reduction in noradrenalin requirement. The results need to be further validated through studies with larger sample sizes.
authors.affiliation: University College of Borås, School of Health Sciences, Borås, Sweden. Maria.Henricson@hb.se
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henricson
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ersson
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Määttä
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Segesten
authors.forename: Anna-Lena
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Berglund
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D019124:Therapeutic Touch; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D005947:Glucose